It has been a long weekend for all of us, my countrymen.. the aftermath of typhoon Ondoy has become a very tragic and overwhelming experience for most of the Filipino people and all that was left were the repercussions of the disaster we did not anticipate. My experience last Saturday was not even a bit harder than what my officemates, friends, maybe some relatives or even fellowmen has experienced.
Saturday morning when everyone were too excited to go home because it was our last day of work for that week. Outside, everyone was just waiting for their turns for a cab ride going home. The rain would turn from normal to heavy in a matter of 5 minutes. While at first we were trying not to make a big deal out of it - me, don, diane, dencio, aids and aiks.. we were just discussing about how the rain would fall heavily from the sky and the appearance of it seemed almost like a waterfall..
When they finally got their ride, I decided to leave and wait for the next bus to get me to the nearest MRT station. It was then that the rain turned into a beastly forces of nature.
I was waiting there, all wet and chilled under the shed of our good ol' building, it took about 15 minutes for the next bus to arrive when finally without further delaying my stay I jumped off the shed and took a step towards the flood .
After thanking the lady who was seating beside her little kid move over to the left side so that i can take a seat next to her, I could only thank God that I was able to survive the first obstacle of my journey going home.
After fetching all the stranded passengers along Ayala Avenue, the bus finally took off and turned left to Edsa, while rain poured harder.
I decided to take the bus going to Ortigas as i already texted a friend and asked him if I could stay over their place until the traffic situation gets better.. It took half an hour for the bus to get to Buendia station, from Buendia hindi na gumalaw yung bus, turned out, ang laki pala ng baha sa may Guadalupe - lagpas tao.. and all vehicles decided to take left turn to some narrow streets, making a short cut to an alternate route just to get passed the flood. Meanwhile our bus driver decided to go straight and move our way through the flood . To my utter shock and amazement, the flood indeed reached above 5ft high. While flooding our way out, I saw fx already floating on the other side of the highway, and half thinking "what if we'd also get swept away by the water?" Take note : the door of our bus were left open and the stupid driver did not even thought that water could get inside our bus and drown us all to death. But thank God we made our way through the flood. People inside the bus even cheered probably thinking that our ride actually survived the adventure.
From the flood in Guadalupe to Boni - traffic turned really bad, it took me another hour.. And after all the waiting when all the people decided to get off the bus and just walk their way home, I - too decided to leave the comfort of my seat and started walking my way to Ortigas. I was even undecided at that time but after hearing the driver and his assistant discussing that they might actually arrive in Monumento around evening na, and they were even planning to buy their lunch @ Jollibee Shaw, I finally had the realization that it would take the rest of the day before the traffic resumed to normal.
And so armed with only my little green umbrella, thin red sweater to comfort me from the cold wind and high heeled shoes, I walked with the rest of the world.
It was not an easy walk Im telling you... though what made it easier are the people that I walked with, along Edsa, because despite the stormy weather, menacing winds and flash floods - they were still either smiling, even waiving their hello's to those people inside their vehicles. Some even uttered, "kaya natin toh pare, makakarating din tau sa paroroonan" and even a group of highschool students asked me if I was okay and if I can still manage through the rest of our journey.
Saturday morning when everyone were too excited to go home because it was our last day of work for that week. Outside, everyone was just waiting for their turns for a cab ride going home. The rain would turn from normal to heavy in a matter of 5 minutes. While at first we were trying not to make a big deal out of it - me, don, diane, dencio, aids and aiks.. we were just discussing about how the rain would fall heavily from the sky and the appearance of it seemed almost like a waterfall..
When they finally got their ride, I decided to leave and wait for the next bus to get me to the nearest MRT station. It was then that the rain turned into a beastly forces of nature.
I was waiting there, all wet and chilled under the shed of our good ol' building, it took about 15 minutes for the next bus to arrive when finally without further delaying my stay I jumped off the shed and took a step towards the flood .
After thanking the lady who was seating beside her little kid move over to the left side so that i can take a seat next to her, I could only thank God that I was able to survive the first obstacle of my journey going home.
After fetching all the stranded passengers along Ayala Avenue, the bus finally took off and turned left to Edsa, while rain poured harder.
I decided to take the bus going to Ortigas as i already texted a friend and asked him if I could stay over their place until the traffic situation gets better.. It took half an hour for the bus to get to Buendia station, from Buendia hindi na gumalaw yung bus, turned out, ang laki pala ng baha sa may Guadalupe - lagpas tao.. and all vehicles decided to take left turn to some narrow streets, making a short cut to an alternate route just to get passed the flood. Meanwhile our bus driver decided to go straight and move our way through the flood . To my utter shock and amazement, the flood indeed reached above 5ft high. While flooding our way out, I saw fx already floating on the other side of the highway, and half thinking "what if we'd also get swept away by the water?" Take note : the door of our bus were left open and the stupid driver did not even thought that water could get inside our bus and drown us all to death. But thank God we made our way through the flood. People inside the bus even cheered probably thinking that our ride actually survived the adventure.
From the flood in Guadalupe to Boni - traffic turned really bad, it took me another hour.. And after all the waiting when all the people decided to get off the bus and just walk their way home, I - too decided to leave the comfort of my seat and started walking my way to Ortigas. I was even undecided at that time but after hearing the driver and his assistant discussing that they might actually arrive in Monumento around evening na, and they were even planning to buy their lunch @ Jollibee Shaw, I finally had the realization that it would take the rest of the day before the traffic resumed to normal.
And so armed with only my little green umbrella, thin red sweater to comfort me from the cold wind and high heeled shoes, I walked with the rest of the world.
It was not an easy walk Im telling you... though what made it easier are the people that I walked with, along Edsa, because despite the stormy weather, menacing winds and flash floods - they were still either smiling, even waiving their hello's to those people inside their vehicles. Some even uttered, "kaya natin toh pare, makakarating din tau sa paroroonan" and even a group of highschool students asked me if I was okay and if I can still manage through the rest of our journey.
I was halfway near Ortigas when my mind wandered through thoughts on how I can compare this extraordinary experience to the life I have right now.
The clouds may appear darker, rain might fall harder than expected, winds may come too strong as trials and problems arise but i'll just have to keep on walking.
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